An Interesting Life, So Far: Memoirs of Literary and Musical Peregrinations

“The 1965 liner notes for Miles Davis’ Greatest Hits deal exclusively with Davis’ interest in fashion. Esquire writer George Frazier provokingly ends his essay with 'When not selecting additions to his wardrobe Miles Davis is a professional trumpet player. People who know about such things tell me he shows a lot of promise.' By the same token, Bruce King is a dancer and musician who professionally 'shows a lot of promise.' From our first meeting in Northern Nigeria at Ahmadu Bello University, I was struck by Bruce’s obsession with music and perhaps not unrelated vision of the need for the study of literature to move beyond categories like Pan African, Francophone and Commonwealth. This abiding interest in the emergence of writing outside of Europe and outside of national or racial boundaries has been the basis as much for academic collaboration as well as for a personal friendship over the years. His welcome autobiography attests to his travels as a wandering academic who is ever aware that creative connections, as much in literature as in music, are no longer national but global. There are few academics who could so ably encompass literary critic, cosmopolitan bon vivant and avid dancer in one lifetime.“ —J. Michael Dash, French Department, New York University
"After several false starts to the memoir, King pulled out all the stops and just let it flow. The result is a rambling narrative combining reminiscence, portraits – often waspish – of diverse personalities, confession, humorous anecdotes; out of all this the serious student of literature can extrapolate a fascinating history of modern literary studies and contemporary – mainly postcolonial – writing."—Kaiser Haq, CROSSINGS vol. 11, 2020